CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

led archeologists to designate their creators as a distinct culture — Shu, the ancient name for
Sichuan.
Cultures of the distant regions contemporaneous with the Zhou dynasty seem to represent
continuations of the preceding Shang period cultures. The Upper Xiajiadian culture was situated
in the north; in the south we find a culture designated the Earthen Tomb culture, as well as the
continuation of the Ba and Shu cultures. Originating in western China, the Zhou first conquered
the region, then vanquished the last Shang king. Under the command of their king, the Qin
kingdom — the successor to the Zhou empire in the western part of China — unified the various
warring states during the final years of the Zhou and established the First Empire.
1 Some scholars over the last century questioned whether
the Xia dynasty ever in fact existed, but were unable to
offer evidence to disprove the historical accounts. The
historian Gu Jiegang (b. 1893) did not deny the existence
of the Xia dynasty, but questioned the existence of the
Great Yu, the reputed first ruler of the Xia. The modern
scholar Chen Mengjia, a specialist in ancient Chinese
writing, proposed that the Xia and Shang might even
have been contemporaneous, but could not find any
evidence to support that hypothesis.
2 See Zou i98ob.
3 Zhongguo Erlitou 1974.
4 Zou 19803.
5 Henan 1977.
6 Zhongguo1984.
7 Hubei 1976.
8 Zhongguo lishi 1996.
9 Zhongguo 19803.
10 Shasnxi 19793
11 Zou 1998.
12 Beijing 1995.
13 Shanxi 1993.
14 Shsnxi 1976.
15 Hubei 1989.
16 Zhongguo 1996.
17 Shsndong 1990.
18 Jisngxi 1997.
19 Sichusn 1987^
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